Album cover sketches

I have a friend in a band called Sunburster, and they’re building up to releasing a new EP. I stuck my nose in where it doesn’t belong and volunteered to do some cover art for them. They already HAD cover art, of course, but entertained my enthusiasm and let me do some concept sketches. The theme was: “A mouth is sucking in smoke and eating people; they are INTO it”.

The above sketch is inspired by a little section of Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights, with some hedonists partying in a skull. This was deemed a little too “death metal” so I went back to the literal drawing board.

Here, we’re getting a bit more explicit about what kind of smoke we’re talking about, and these party-goers are literally getting sucked in. They’re still having a good time, though!

For obvious reasons, the band is going to continue with their previously selected cover. But perhaps I will eventually convince them!